Indemnification of Commissioners
The board rules are out and while there are many items that have caught my attention, there is one item in particular that has caught my attention, section 3.2, Indemnification of Commissioners. You can view the current rule and proposed rule change below:
To my reading, this rule subjects any one commissioner's legal defense and potential indemnification to a vote of 8 commissioners. Defense is not guaranteed, and the judgment of whether a commissioner may have acted outside the scope of their authority is solely in the hands of 8 commissioners. This leaves an individual commissioner politically exposed to potentially tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of financial penalties, solely because 8 commissioners made that determination. I believe this to be a drastic reduction of protection for commissioners.
In light of this, I will be offering the following amendment:
"The County shall provide a defense to Commissioners for acts undertaken in the course of their official duties. The County shall indemnify Commissioners for any judgment or settlement arising from such acts unless a court of competent jurisdiction determines that the Commissioner acted with willful misconduct, bad faith, or in knowing violation of law."
By saying "The County shall provide a defense..." without any qualifiers in that first sentence, the County pays for legal representation upfront, guaranteed. This prevents a Commissioner from being bankrupted by legal fees before the case even gets to a judge. It also moves the decision-making power from the Board room (where politics may rule) to the Courtroom (where evidence and law rule). The difference is simple: My version relies on a Judge to determine if a Commissioner acted in bad faith. The proposed Rule 3.2 relies on 8 Commissioners. If we believe in due process and the rule of law, we should leave legal judgments to the courts, not to a 2/3rds majority of this board.
Why the Change and what it Addresses:
✅ No political vulnerability - Board can't vote to cut off defense or indemnification indiscriminately
✅ Neutral legal standard - Only a court can determine bad faith/willful misconduct
✅ Defense is guaranteed - You shouldn’t need to pay for your own lawyer while lawsuit is pending
✅ Indemnification is presumed - County pays unless court finds egregious conduct
✅ Protects taxpayers - County isn't on the hook for willful misconduct or bad faith
✅ Minority commissioners protected - Can't be financially targeted by majority
✅ Settlement leverage still exists - Court might find willful misconduct/bad faith, creating uncertainty for both plaintiff and commissioner and pushes both sides to settle.
✅ County not liable for egregious or criminal behavior - Willful misconduct exception covers egregious behavior
✅ Recruiting protection - Candidates know they won't lose life savings over good-faith actions
